Lesson Learned
by DarkElements10
Summary: Kendall really needs to learn that not all relationships work the same and Riley will make sure he does after he asks her about a "goodbye kiss" one too many times.


**Lesson Learned**

**By: Riley  
**

**Summary \- Kendall really needs to learn that not all relationships work the same and Riley will make sure he does after he asks her about a "goodbye kiss" one too many times. **

* * *

There weren't a lot of things that existed that could instantly pluck at Riley's nerves. But there were some.

At the top of the list was the cold. She grew up in a warm climate. Anything colder than 75 degrees (Fahrenheit, not Celsius) and she was diving for the first sweatshirt she could find, huddled up and miserable with the poutiest pout she could muster despite how much her jaw trembled with a shiver.

Second on the list were people that didn't know how to shut up, equally tied with those that were so narcissistic and self-centered that they'd drown in a rainfall, their noses were so high in the air. Third were those freakishly cutesy people that called each other the worst pet names anyone could ever come up with while on the highest of a sugar high.

Those were the first three on a list of about twenty, and what quickly moved up that list were the words, "Goodbye kiss."

Oh, the many times that she had to listen to Kendall and Jo make sure they didn't leave each other without it was enough to make her grit her teeth. And that was when she was simply their friend. That was before she started to realize and stifle her own growing feelings for her best friend knowing wanting to hurt one of the closest girlfriends she had in years.

That was before she had sat through many days of listening to them evolve into asking, "Goodbye kiss?" before they separated from each other, even if only for half a day while Kendall was at Rocque Records and Jo was working on New Town High. Before she wanted nothing more than to kill the both of them for how reliant they were on it. And yet, she still found herself being wrapped up in Kendall's mission to get to the airport before Jo left for New Zealand just because they'd forgotten to have their goodbye kiss.

Call her a romantic at heart.

So much so that she tried to ignore the first few times that Kendall had uttered the words after they, finally, started to date. He'd asked her the first time, when they'd been hanging out at Rocque Records in between recording sessions. "Goodbye kiss?"

"I'm sorry?" Riley blinked in surprise before he descended on her with a quick kiss she barely'd noticed.

The second time, she was a little prepared for it, but still felt a flash of annoyance when he asked for a kiss before she went off to San Diego for the day. The third time, she all but growled when he did it, unable to keep her composure much longer.

The fourth and final time he did it, she quickly shut it down in the only way she knew how. Yes, she may have had a very inappropriate sense of satisfaction over it, but it was a lesson he really needed to learn. So she waited and didn't have to wait long. She'd just finished a fitting with the boys for an upcoming show that Gustavo was drilling them on-enough so that they'd done so many dance practices that she'd had to continuously do fittings for the weight they'd lost—and was gathering her things together to close the costume closet after them, hardly listening as the guys planned their night.

"I don't know about you, but I'm thinking we hole ourselves up in the crib and eat nothing but corn dogs," Carlos declared, stretching his arms overhead.

"Sounds like a plan," Logan agreed, sticking a finger in the air. Then he pointed at Carlos. "But it's Friday, so it'll be fish sticks."

"Even better!" Carlos declared.

"You do know that the more we eat of those things the more we have to work out to burn it off, right?" Kendall pointed out. "Which means." He pointed to James. "That he's going to be kicking our ass for days on end."

James's head popped up with a grin. "And I have _no _problem with that! Just saying."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "You've just created a monster," he muttered to himself. Then he turned to Riley, saying, "If you don't hear from me in a few days, it's either because James killed us or Carlos, Logan and I went on the run after killing him ourselves." Riley chuckled. "I'll see you later." He leaned toward her. "Goodbye—"

"Kendall, I swear to God if you say the words 'goodbye kiss' to me, right now, I'm going to punch you in the fucking face," Riley said, immediately stopping him in his tracks. He leaned back, looking at her curiously, thick eyebrows coming together, all too aware of James, Logan, and Carlos watching the scene unfold before them. Riley ignored them and stuck up her thumb, starting to count. "I'm not Jo." She then held up her index finger along with her thumb. "And I'm not Lucy. And all those things you do to be romantic with all the girls you date isn't going to work, because we're not all the bloody same." She dropped her hands. "So, I just want to make one thing clear, mate."

She grabbed Kendall's face and pulled him to her in a sharp tug. He moved toward her, eyes widening in surprise before they fell shut, accepting the long, passionate kiss Riley gave him. He pushed all thoughts aside, ignored the low jeers and amused catcalls his friends threw their way, only focused on how right it felt to be kissing her, compared to how, plainly, sweet things felt with Jo, and the crushing blow of nothing he felt when kissing Lucy. Riley held a firm grasp on him, allowing the kiss to organically peter out before she pulled back and looked directly at him.

No blushing, no apologies, no wiping off her lips. No shame.

Nothing but the confidence that radiated off her in waves.

Riley continued to hold his face and said as straightforward as ever, "I'm going to kiss you whenever I feel like it." She let go of him, grabbed her keys from the table beside her, and added with a smirk and a pointed rise of her eyebrows, "And just so you know, Hockey-Head, I always feel like it."

She side-stepped him and left the costume closet and a quiet Big Time Rush behind.

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**The End**


End file.
